Women make history in courtroom

Friday

Sep 28, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2007 at 9:10 PM

At 9:28 a.m., the ceiling lights went out on the 5th District Court of Appeals during the first of 12 hearings. It didn’t slow down the three judges from doing something historic. Thursday’s hearing was the first time the Canton-based appellate court saw three elected female judges sitting together.

Paul E. Kostyu

It was a historic -- and dark – day in the Richland County Probate Court.

At 9:28 a.m., the ceiling lights went out on the 5th District Court of Appeals during the first of 12 hearings. It didn’t slow down the three judges from doing something historic.

Thursday’s hearing was the first time the Canton-based appellate court saw three elected female judges sitting together.

The court covers 15 counties, including Stark, Tuscarawas and Holmes. There are six judges in the appellate district and they are randomly drawn to hear cases in three-judge panels.

The election of Patricia A. Delaney in November made the match possible. She was joined by Judges Sheila G. Farmer and Julie A. Edwards.

Lights out

“We can see you,” Farmer told attorneys after the room went dark except for the natural light of a cloudy day coming through three windows.

Judges and attorneys alike had to shift their papers and bodies so they could read legal documents.

At one point, one attorney said, “I can’t believe I have an opportunity to say this, but let me shed a little light on the arguments raised.”

After he ended and the lights were still off, Farmer retorted: “Apparently you failed.”

That drew laughter from those in the small courtroom. When the lights came on an hour later, the judges were well into their fourth case.

Women and law

Statewide, three-female judge panels are not unusual, though women are still in the minority on the appellate bench, according to Christopher Davey, a spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court. Of the 69 appeals judges, 27 are women.

Davey said three courts have no female judges, but three or more women can be found in five courts. Females command a majority in two courts.

In the 5th District, not only are there three judges, but women control most of the administrative posts as well.

Making Thursday even more historic, at least in the eyes of the court, two female attorneys opposed each other in a conspiracy to commit murder case involving two female juveniles.

Ohio Public Defender Amanda Powell said she argued her first case before three female appellate judges in another district.

“It’s still worth noting,” she said of Thursday’s session. “It accents the role of women and changes the boys’-club mentality of the past.”

Richland County Assistant Prosecutor Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner said she has argued cases before the same judges, just not together.

“Very few women sit on the bench,” she said. “It changes the dynamic. It’s less confrontational and more conversational.”

“All the judges in the appellate court are competent people whether they’re male or female,” Mayer said. “It’s a matter of their ability to do the job.”

The court was hearing an appeal of one of Mayer’s decisions that involved whether a prenuptial agreement trumped a will when the husband died.

Business as usual

After the court session ended three and half hours after it began, the judges said many of the cases were fairly typical of those heard by the court.

“I was much more aware of the difference when I started,” said Edwards, who is a 1978 graduate of the law school at Ohio State University. “I couldn’t have found this.”

She said there are times when male attorneys and judges will plan activities around events they like to do, though technically females are not excluded.

“It’s a shift in process,” she said. “A lot more women are attorneys than 20 years ago. Maybe government service is attracting more women. We have a greater pool to choose from.”

Delaney, the youngest of the three judges, said her colleagues “paved the way for me.”

The three women later met in the closed court to discuss the arguments in private. Each will write four randomly assigned opinions.